LP Jr knock off?

[Steve A.]

The problem with DIY projects like these is that they need to stay DIY or you end up blowing your budget. If that happens you could end up sinking more into the project than if you bought a completed guitar.

I'd avoid hiring out any of the work. Me? I'd find a cover that I like and then expand the control cavity as needed and then rout out the lip. Rather than trying to freehand the router work, I'd build a jig and practice on a piece of scrap to avoid screwing up the guitar body. This kind of router task is actually pretty easy if you build a jig. Once you've practiced enough to have the routing down pat then move the jig to the guitar.

For those of us who are thinking about taking on one of these kits, it would be very interesting to know how many hours of work and how many dollars in parts go into the project. dawg, do you have to buy all of the parts for this project or do you have some parts sitting around that you're planning to use?

Olddawg did say" both body and neck are sealed with a light coat of polyurethane" which is why I did not recommend routing the top unless he was planning to refinish it. A friend bought an Epi White Lightning guitar which was missing switch cover plate. The problem was that the lip wasn't cut right... nowhere to put 2 of the screws. A top nptch guitar builder friend made a repair along the lines of what I suggested.

As for routers I bought a Craftsman Laminate Router many years ago which is great for working on guitars being much bigger than a dremel and much smaller than a full-sized shop router...

Steve A.

[Steve A.]

So... the $12 Bad Ass clone arrived over night from Amazon Prime.

Can you post or PM me the listing or seller's name? Does he sell metric as well as SAE bad ass clones?

Thanks!

Steve A.

[bob p]

I'd save $15 on the Gibson decal.

[olddawg]

Done

[olddawg]

I'm a little disappointed with the Allparts $16 tuners. Although they seem to be decent, tight 15:1 ratio tuners and are similar reproductions, they do not say "Deluxe" on them. I am also going to have to dowel and redrill the peg holes in the headstock. I suspect the holes were drilled for "Grover" clones in a more complete kit. Oh well. Not a huge deal. I can always swap out real Klusons later.

[Bloomfield]

Are those tuners Gotoh, or the cheaper Korean ones? The Gotohs aren't marked apart from 'Japan' on the back. Stewmac sells 'conversion' bushings that go from the 10mm sealed tuner holes down to the Kluson-style post size. They're about $8 a set and would save you having to redrill. Allparts might have similar but I'm not sure.

Andy

[olddawg]

Thanks Andy.. these are generic "Asian" but are American scale. (Drop in Kluson clones) The Gotohs are more than twice the price. They center in the holes fine. I don't think the conversion bushings would work because these are Grover single size holes. Allparts did have some conversion bushings. I'll look. But honestly, rather than paying and waiting for shipping it's not a big deal to plug it with some dowel and redrill it with my drill press. The dowel will not be seen under the lip anyway. If I really wanted to kludge it I could use some 5 minute epoxy. But I'll do it right.

[Steve A.]

Thanks Andy.. these are generic "Asian" but are American scale. (Drop in Kluson clones) The Gotohs are more than twice the price. They center in the holes fine. I don't think the conversion bushings would work because these are Grover single size holes. Allparts did have some conversion bushings. I'll look. But honestly, rather than paying and waiting for shipping it's not a big deal to plug it with some dowel and redrill it with my drill press. The dowel will not be seen under the lip anyway. If I really wanted to kludge it I could use some 5 minute epoxy. But I'll do it right.

I don't know what the shipping would be but I have a lot of different asian tuners that I could mail to you N/C if you send me the specs. Adding dowels and drilling might conceivably affect resonance of headstock so I would not do it unless absolutely necessary. Whenever you decide to put in some real Klusons you could mail the Asian ones back to me if I needed them back...

Steve A.

P.S. I am planning to go into business as a guitar tech someday so I have been stocking up on cheap Asian parts for cheap-ass customers...

[olddawg]

I don't know what the shipping would be but I have a lot of different asian tuners that I could mail to you N/C if you send me the specs. Adding dowels and drilling might conceivably affect resonance of headstock so I would not do it unless absolutely necessary. Whenever you decide to put in some real Klusons you could mail the Asian ones back to me if I needed them back...

Steve A.

P.S. I am planning to go into business as a guitar tech someday so I have been stocking up on cheap Asian parts for cheap-ass customers...

You were right Steve. I found some adapters on Amazon Prime. I should have them in a day!

[olddawg]

I actually ended up using real Kluson bushing adapters because they were the same dimensions and only $2 more with free shipping on Amazon Prime. They are still a tiny bit loose so I wrapped a turn of painters tape around them. I think it will tighten up when the headstock has a few coats of paint.

[olddawg]

There’s a lot more to doing this right than it appeared. I’m going to have to make the tendon rout longer and am going to have to set the neck a 1/4” or so into the body because of the way they rounded the edges. Also to look period correct I’m going to have to stagger the bridge post holes a bit. This shouldn’t be too difficult. The existing holes are 3/8”. The stud bushings require a 7/16” hole. To drill them accurately I’m going to have to dowel them first anyway. I’ll make better measurements once I have the neck set but setting the top stud back a bit shouldn’t be a problem.

[olddawg]

I actually ended up using real Kluson bushing adapters because they were the same dimensions and only $2 more with free shipping on Amazon Prime. They are still a tiny bit loose so I wrapped a turn of painters tape around them. I think it will tighten up when the headstock has a few coats of paint.
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[bob p]

There’s a lot more to doing this right than it appeared. I’m going to have to make the tendon rout longer and am going to have to set the neck a 1/4” or so into the body because of the way they rounded the edges. Also to look period correct I’m going to have to stagger the bridge post holes a bit. This shouldn’t be too difficult. The existing holes are 3/8”. The stud bushings require a 7/16” hole. To drill them accurately I’m going to have to dowel them first anyway. I’ll make better measurements once I have the neck set but setting the top stud back a bit shouldn’t be a problem.

That's the problem with "project" guitar builds. They always end up taking a lot more to get them "right" than you;d hoped going in.

I'm sure that you're aware that by setting the neck farther into the body that's going to force you to move your bridge, but it sounds like you're ready for this since you're going to be doweling the existing holes.

I've thought about one of these kits, and the biggest impediment for me has been the skinny neck contour. Another thing that's given me pause is the narrow price gap between the kit price and the prevailing prices for some of the well-built Asian guitars when they go on sale. These kits seem like a great deal, but once you figure in all of your work they end up being expensive time-wise. I think I'd be more likely to bite if the kits were cheaper. To me there's just not enough gap between the $150 raw parts and the finished $300 Asian guitars to make it work for me.

Of course, I say this just as I'm going into a parts-caster project that's guaranteed to have me upside-down on value when the smoke clears. Hopefully the difference is that the parts-caster will involve less time than money, which is kind of where I'm at right now.

I think you've got a great project. I'll be watching your progress. Thanks for the updates.

[olddawg]

All true. Since the existing post holes are 3/8" Off setting them a bit with 7/16" holes won't be a problem. I have to dowel them to drill accurately anyway. I measured the scale and they appeared to take insetting the neck into the body into acount and doing it 1/4" seems to be correct for the hole locations. The Bad Ass type bridge is very forgiving. I started this project because this style is harder to find. There are more expensive kits that have a better level of completion. The product discription even said that it was not for the unexperienced with no luthier skills. It would work fine with the existing holes. I just want to make it look authentic.

[olddawg]

Well... I tried to do the 2 sided tape trick for the router fence to lengthen the neck pocket. It slipped and I'm not Joe Cool with a router anyway. Simply don't do it enough. But as it turns out. After measuring again for the scale to work out accurately, I'm going to have to inset the neck end into the body at least a 1/4". That will get rid of my "rounded edge" problem where the neck joins the body. Another pass with the router should make it cleaner with no or very little gap at the end of the tendon joint. But seriously, I've seen vintage 50s and 60s Gibsons with bigger flubs than this. They just used a lot of glue! And btw, the circular scaring is level with the rest of the rout. Taking my time. Using the tools I have at hand. When I get the neck set right I'll drill the bridge post insert holes. I have them approximately marked with blue tape.